Reflections of an aMIBa

The pioneers in Fletcher’s first MIB class are now veterans of a full semester, plus an additional special one-week session they completed last week. Here, MIB class of 2010 member Joshua Haynes shares his observations.

Last Sunday, I had coffee with a fellow MIB classmate at Diesel Cafe in Davis Square. It felt like an eternity since we had last seen each other, but in fact it had only been 13 days since we turned in our last final exams and left for our two-week winter break. We were both back in town ahead of our non-MIB Fletcher classmates to attend the one-week pre-semester course for first-year MIB students.

We chatted about our respective breaks, how great it was to spend time with family and to return to our respective home states (she to Vermont and I to New Mexico), after an incredibly intense first semester. It was intense because, for almost all of us, we hadn’t been students in years, so getting back into the swing of study — read-go to class–read–eat–read–study–socialize–read–sleep — was a bit difficult.

The first semester was also intense academically because of the number of different academic “genres” we dealt with. In the first semester as aMIBae (our self-dubbed name), we took courses that forced us to think mathematically, analytically, politically, economically, theoretically, “researchilly,” regionally, linguistically, and strategically. We were exposed to a number of topics and academic disciplines to which I personally had never really given second thought, such as international negotiation theory, financial securitization, and economic realism.

The last reason the semester was intense was because of its sheer busyness, compounded by all the “extra’ activities. Whether it was rehearsing for Fiesta Latina or Med Night, participating in or organizing conferences, starting or running clubs, or attending lectures or networking events, there was never a dull moment.

Tomorrow we begin The Second Semester. It’s sure to be just as intense (and exciting) as the first one, but we’re a bit more prepared for it this time around. At least, we hope we are.